Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My name

My surname is Carroll (only one generation ago it was O’Carroll) and this is what the website told me:

O’Carroll is the anglicized form of the Irish name "O'Cearbhaill" which was a byname for either a butcher or a fierce warrior, deriving from "cearbh", which means hacking or to hack. There were six distinct sects of O'Carroll in Ireland, namely in County Kerry (where my parents are from), and County Tipperary.

The hacker/butcher/ fierce warrior bit I do like the sound of and combined with my first name (Louise) which also means warrior, I sound like someone not to be messed with.

6 comments:

My new last name: ReddyIn Ireland the surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "O'Rodaigh", composed of the elements "O", descendant of, with "Rodach", a personal name derived from "rod", hearty, lively, spirited. John Rady is noted in the Subsidy Rolls of Essex (1327), and James Reddy was noted as a witness in Perthshire (1549). On January 13th 1652, Margery Reddy married John Walker at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is a blue shield with three silver swans wings endorsed, the Crest being an arm in armour couped at the shoulders, embowed and resting on the elbow, holding a scymitar all proper.